Articles

LEADERSHIP IN HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMME: A PRACTICAL APPROACH

23-27 JUNE 2014, OXFORD

Drawing on the success of our past Leadership in Higher Education programmes, Oxford Academy for Education and Development (OAED) was proud to introduce the sequel to the Leadership programme, entitled ‘Leadership in Higher Education Programme: A Practical Approach’. The programme was held from 23 -27 June at two Oxford colleges of Christ Church and New College, as well as at other UK higher education institutions such as City University London, King’s College London and Harwell Oxford.

The programme reunited again many of our delegates from past programmes, notably from Bayero University, Kano in Nigeria, Yerevan State Medical University in Armenia, Medical University, Plovdiv, in Bulgaria and from Central European University of Skalica in Slovakia, but also brought together many new delegates from other countries.

The first day of the programme was held at Christ Church which is one of the largest and most well-known colleges in the University of Oxford. Dr. Heirani Moghaddam, the Chairman of OAED, welcomed all the delegates and officially opened the programme. The first session was led by our key note speaker, Prof. Tom Bartlett, who had joined the programme all the way form the US and presented on the ‘Effective University Leadership’. In his speech, Prof. Bartlett touched on many of the key issues and challenges that university leaders are facing in the management of universities. This session was followed by a presentation from Dr. Nathan Pike from ISIS Innovation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the University of Oxford. Dr. Pike explained how the institution is able to assist the University of Oxford in managing technology transfer and academic consulting.

In the afternoon, delegates were served lunch at the high table in Christ Church dining hall which is one of the largest and oldest dining halls at the University, and later went on a tour of the College as well as other colleges of the University of Oxford.

The second day was held at City University London where delegates met the senior team of the university, and had the opportunity to hear first hand information on how some key areas of the university such as the international office, enterprise, careers and outreach services, human resources and staff development function.

King’s College London, a renowned UK university and a part of the federal University of London, was visited the following day where we hosted senior representatives from three key UK higher education bodies: the Higher Education Academy (HEA), the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Doug Pearce from the Higher Education Academy presented on the expertise and the resources of the HEA and how these are used to support the higher education community in the UK. Janet Bohrer and Melvyn Smith spoke on the activities of the Quality Assurance Agency in the UK and Cliff Hancock gave a presentation on HEFCE and their promotion and funding of teaching and research in the higher education.

The last day of the programme was held in the morning at Harwell Oxford, a world-class centre for science, technology and innovation, where delegates met with some of the senior members and scientists of the institution, and learned about activities of the centre and their outreach programmes. The day was concluded at New College, Oxford, with Concluding Remarks and Certificate Ceremony, and finally with the first Annual General Meeting of the Oxonia University Network, a newly established organisation, during which the members selected the first President and Vice-President of the Network for a two-year term.